Lupus’s eyes widened in abject shock as he saw the griffon, whom he’d previously dismissed as being nothing more than a nuisance that could quickly be dealt with charge at him, in the all too distinctive armor of a Paladin, wielding a claw-like weapon with glowing blue blades of energy.

The blades hummed with a distinctive energy as they met Lupus’s own sickles, crackling as they did so, leaving trails of light as they slashed through the air. A fist met Coldcast’s stomach sending him staggering back accompanied by a grunt of pain before he was socked across the jaw by a hard right cross.

Coldcast regained his bearings, and only just in time as well, considering Lupus came at him with two powerful swings from his sickles, glowing a sickly dark purple.

Coldcast quickly switched out Kyutamas, and slammed the Aquarius Kyutama into his gauntlet, and fired a jet of pure scalding water at Lupus. Lupus let out a howl of pain, and threw one of his sickles, aimed directly at Coldcast’s head. The griffon let out a yelp as he just barely rolled to the left, and the sickle impaled itself in a nearby wall of red crystal.

Coldcast let out a roar of pure rage and swung his claw weapon again with Lupus simply sidestepping to the left and grabbing Coldcast’s arm with a paw before twisting it with a sickening cracking noise. Lupus then threw Coldcast into the ground, and placed his boot on the Blue Ranger’s stomach. He pried his sickle out of the wall, and smirked.

“For a moment there, I actually thought you’d be a challenge. Guess I was wrong about that,” Lupus smirked as he ground his heel into Coldcast’s stomach. “You’re too full of rage, wanting to prove yourself. That much I can discern. Hardly worth the title of Paladin.”

“Are you… gonna talk or… are you gonna fight?” Coldcast, despite having the feel of a steel heel brushing and bending his flesh out of shape, still held strong in the face of his adversary.

“There’s no honour in defeating a weaker opponent. Perhaps, if you brought whatever ragtag friends you have along with you, then it would be interesting.” Lupus leaned down to his face. He failed to notice the air shimmer around him, before a green blast of energy sent him flying back, and a figure striding forwards as he dropped his camouflage.

“I’m sorry, were you talking about moi?” Spada asked, the Changeling now fully morphed and pulling out a rapier weapon. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. Just call me the Shinobi Star, Chameleon Green!”

“Just one? How sad,” Lupus stood off of Coldcast and lumbered towards Spada. “I was expecting more from these so-called ‘warriors’ I was informed of. That robot we sent to your planet, well useless as he was, did gather some useful data. He did let us know there were more Paladins out there,” Lupus grinned, and for a moment Spada felt a chill run down his spine. There was something about this one, just made his withers shudder. Lupus pulled out his sickles once more, and spun them in his hands with both making hums of energy. “Fine by me.”

Lupus bore his own weapon, and promptly swung them upwards at Spada. The Changeling, to his credit did block most of the blows with a few rapid swings of his rapier and even got in a few of his own, but one powerful kick from Lupus sent him flying through a wall into another cavern, leaving him across a very narrow bridge, with a deep yawning chasm below. Howling winds rushed up from beneath, and Spada just barely managed to keep his balance.

“This is just insulting now. Where’s the fun in this?” Lupus taunted, before he clapped his sickles together, forming an orb once they made a complete circle. Said orb then launched a series of laser blasts at Spada and the ground around him. The crystals comprising the bridge below Spade began to crack, and he extended his wings before going skywards and thrust his rapier at Lupus. Like a chameleon's tongue aptly enough, the strikes were long, and whip-like, lashing out at the Karō making him stumble back before Spada kicked him in the face.

Wiping the blood off his muzzle, Lupus let out a low growl. “So, I was right. You’re more bark than bite, Guess you really do deserve the title of Paladin after all…”

“He’s not the only one,” a female’s voice commented, before Lupus whirled around to see Stripped Gear and Fågel staring him down. “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. I admit, Coldcast is a bit of a fool for charging in like he did, but the title of being Lupus’s paladin, very important to him. He had to work for what he had, and here you are, trying to take that away from him,” Fågel hissed out, the lavender parrot drawing what looked to be a double-bladed axe. “Probably the nicest thing you’ll ever hear me say about my half-brother, so treasure it. Star Change: Taurus!” she shouted, before changing into a massive black armored warrior. Heavily armored, the star on her uniform was just barely visible and her visor looked like a pair of massive bull horns, extending far past her helmet.

“Agreed, time to shut you up.” Stripped Gear smirked, the unicorn going for his Kyutama as well. “Star Change, Dorado!” he shouted, before shifting with a flash of yellow light into his costume. His visor was unusual as well, being shaped like a swordfish and actually ending in a sharp point.

“Alone, you are weak and powerless. But together? Well, that’s an entirely different story.” Lupus had a sadistic grin on his face as he smashed his sickles against the ground, causing the edges to turn hot-orange as if they had been heated up to a thousand degrees. “I’m going to enjoy severing those heads from your necks, paladins.”

“We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?” Coldcast asked, as he finally regrouped with his team as Spada ran to their side. They were soon joined by Flashfire and Jabari as well, already morphed.

“The Beast Star, Cerberus Seagreen!”
“The Howling Star, Lupus Blue!”
“The Shinobi Star, Chameleon Green!”
“The Sword Star, Dorado Yellow!”
“The Winged Star, Aquila Pink!”
“The Armored Star, Taurus Black! Six Stars, shining in the Heavens! Space Squadron, Kyuranger!”

“Well, isn’t this cute. Six Paladins, didn’t know I was quite so well off!” Lupus laughed. “Let’s even things up a little, shall we? Invaders!” he bellowed, snapping his fingers as the footsoldiers of the Dark Matter empire teleported in.

“Guess they haven’t had their stomachs filled yet!” Spada quipped.

The Paladins all charged in on the foot soldiers, arms bore as they started to open fire and swing their melee weapons around. It wasn’t an easy battle to say the least, as one wrong step would leave someone slipping and falling down into the yawning abyss below. And Lupus knew this full well.

“One side!” He laughed, as he elbowed Jabari in the face, making the young zorse stagger and nearly lose his balance before he was pulled back by Fågel.

“Oh no, not losing you yet kid!” the parrot shouted, pulling the zorse close to her chest. Jabari flushed under his helmet, knowing full well how… developed the bearer of the Taurus powers was under her armor.

“Going to need some breathing room here!” Fågel shouted, even as she cut down Invaders with her axe. Flashfire nodded.

“Got an idea on how to give you that,” Flashfire nodded before letting out a bark of: “Jabari, prends soin de me prêter un coup de pied rapide comme tu veux, hein?” he asked.

“You’re so lucky I understand Prench…” the Pink Ranger muttered sarcastically, before going for his pistol and inserting the Telescopium Kyutama into a small slot on it. A holographic scope was projected, and Jabari fired a few rapid shots of pink energy at some of the Invaders.

“Maybe they should call you the Shooting Star, eh?” Stripped Gear joked, as he punted a invader off the bridge.

“No thank you, would just lead to me getting all full of myself,” Jabari replied simply. Nearby, Flashfire inserted the Serpens Kyutama into his gauntlet, and fired, unleashing a swarm of spectral snakes into the hoard.

“Et pour finir le travail…” Flashfire murmured before switching to the Aries Kyutama, firing a burst of yellow energy in the shape of a ram’s head at the remaining Invaders sending them all into dreamland. “Nighty-night, don’t let the bedbugs bite!” he taunted.

“Oi, I take offense to that!” Spada shouted. Flashfire, of course, ignored him.

“Stripped, get back to the main cavern, I want that Draco Voyager unearthed, you understand?” Flashfire shouted, and Stripped nodded in understanding and broke into a sprint, before Lupus leaped in front of him, blocking his path.

“Nice as the prospect of one of the long-lost Voyagers being reclaimed by a Paladin is, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that.” Lupus smirked before the ground rumbled once more. “In fact, you won’t even leave this place alive!”

Once more, he snapped his fingers, and several long tendrils reached up from the depths of the chasm and grabbed each of the Kyurangers save Coldcast. Each and every single slimy, gold, wriggling limb rose further out, revealing a colossal beast that was more worm than humanoid. With a series of massive maws on its’ head and shoulders, as well as more tendrils, it was a true monstrosity of flesh and blood.

“Behold the Abhorrence! Unholy tamer of all that is mortal, and the instrument of your demise!” Lupus watched the flailing rangers struggle to escape. “You might as well call it the Deathworm in your common Equus tongue. The name fits anyhow.”

With a screech of rage, Coldcast shoulder charged Lupus, and knocked him back into the main cavern. “Just you and me now…” the griffon growled out before going for the Cancer Kyutama, and like before, a large red pincher of energy erupted from his back and squeezed Lupus tightly.

“Let them go…” Coldcast whispered. But to his surprise, Lupus slowly pried the pincers apart before firing another orb of searing hot energy at him, knocking the griffon back into a grouping of stalagmites, crystal flying everywhere as they shattered and demorphing the Blue Ranger.

“You cannot stand against what I am alone, boy.” Lupus cracked his neck as he tilted it. “And with your friends on the edge of death, you have no hope of standing your own in this universe.” He then grabbed Coldcast by the neck, tightening his grip. “I know your type. Like I said, you just want to prove yourself to everyone, you’re so full of rage you just welcome the challenge; regardless of whether or not you may die. Such a stance on the world is your very undoing, as I am about to demonstrate!”

Coldcast suddenly freed himself from Lupus’ grip and knocked him back with a kick to the stomach before picking up his fallen weapon, and it shifted into a sword, not that far removed from Flashfire’s own blade. Even as he re-engaged the Karō, he flashed back…

Three Years Ago: Galaxy Garrison Boot Camp:

Coldcast found himself outside the headmaster’s office. Again. Ponies whispered as they passed him, and laughed once they thought they were out of earshot. There was Coldcast, in trouble again with his temper, they commented. Such a sorry excuse for a Paladin, they laughed.

Coldcast had to clench up his fists into a ball and hold himself back from punching a wall in sheer rage. No, that would only prove them right, that he was a loose cannon who couldn’t control his temper for the life of him, a bully.

“But that’s what I am, right?” Coldcast asked himself in a whispered tone, even now hearing Headmaster Stoneheart yelling at his adopted older brother/possible father figure behind his desk. “A bully!”

Headmaster Stoneheart had every reason to be angry at him, given that he’d sent two of his fellow classmates to the infirmary in a fit of anger, after they’d mocked his parents. Or lack thereof.

“Look at me, dios mío…” Coldcast muttered under his breath, and put his head in his hands. “What am I even doing here? I’m just a sad, sorry excuse of a griffon with not even a bit to his name, or a family who even gives a mierda about me…”

He could still hear Headmaster Stoneheart and Flashfire arguing, even as small tears fell from Coldcast’s crystal blue eyes. “Agh, what am I even doing here, I’ll just fuck something up again, and then again! Today, it was two ponies sent to the medical wing, what next? Four, five? All because I can’t keep my damned temper in check?” Coldcast whispered to himself. “Sometimes, I just want to do something right for once in my life, but then… I should be able to do something right, I know I should!” he continued, before pausing and speaking in an even quieter tone of voice that nobody could hear. “S-So I try, and sometimes I do it right, but then, I just can’t because oh Faust I want to be a hero to Equus and then I fuck something up so majorly that everyone tells me that I just fucking can’t! That’s what I am, worthless!” he sniffled, barely fighting back the next wave of tears that threatened to fall. “What Flashfire, he was thinking when both he and Flurry chose me as a potential pilot for the Wolf Voyager, I’ve no clue…”

Coldcast was so caught up in himself and his personal self-depreciation that he hadn’t realized the arguing from Stoneheart’s office had fallen silent. Nor did he notice the soft, warm red-furred arms pulling him into a deep hug.

“Now, you listen to me, okay petit frère?” Flashfire’s voice came out soft, but firm. “Listen well, and listen hard m’kay? I did not just spend the last hour and a half arguing with that bâtard you call a headmaster to see you self-deriding yourself like this!”

Coldcast’s crystal blue eyes widened, he never heard his hermano (If not by blood) ever raise his voice to that level of fierce protectiveness, or swear for that matter. Okay, maybe Flashfire swore at some other point, it was just never around him.

“Everything, and I do mean everything Stoneheart had to say about you, completely and utter shit you understand?” Flashfire continued, still in that soft and loving, but stern tone of voice. At some point, he had put the Lyra Kyutama into his personal Kyuchanger, making it emit soft, tranquil music. Hopefully, Flashfire mused, this would help calm his little brother. “The stallion’s a jerk, we both know that. I argued against him being placed in charge of this school, only for Stardust, the little royal bâtard who probably never socialized with a teenager in his life to override me and put him there anyways!”

If Coldcast’s jaw wasn’t slack before, it sure as Hell was now. He’d never heard Flashfire speak ill about anypony in a royal position, and had drilled into Coldcast to treat both rulers of Equus with decency and respect no matter what.

“Sure, you’re a bit on the obnoxious side, rather aloof, but I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest,” Flashfire continued. “Growing up like you did, in the New Manehatten orphanage, going through the system and family homes as many times as you did? It’s a miracle you turned out as well as you did, really. Merde, I’d be rather independent myself in that sorta situation. And you kid, you are freaking amazing, and you’ll probably continue to astound me one day. You got into the freakin’ fighter program, and that’s hardly an easy feat as it is! I didn’t just choose you as a potential Wolf Voyager pilot just because I felt sorry for you or anything like that. You have a talent, a natural raw talent. Seriously, you were thrown into the program and right into the simulations without you having to read the material -Again, I have Stardust to thank, and his bullshit reasoning that we need new pilots, quick as possible- so, of course, you’re going to make a few slip-ups.”

Big wet eyes met Flashfire’s own. “Trust me, there’s no such thing as being picked at random or arbitrarily. Not in my book. Someone recognized you for what you were. Nobody, nobody who’s a fuck-up gets to be in that position you understand?”

“B-But what about the kids I sent to the medical wing? What about them? Dios mío, their parents are going to be pissed at me!” Coldcast whispered.

“Let me deal with them. Those little brats, way out of line and let me assure you, I’ll override the headmaster’s authority, and Hell, Prince Stardust’s as well if I have to, and get them suspended at the very least!”

“No… No, I don’t want you to have to deal with-” Coldcast stammered out before a finger was placed over his beak.

“The blowback? Please. Like I could give a damn about what some rich parents who let their kids walk all over everyone else have to say!” Flashfire scoffed, and Coldcast bit back a chuckle. “If anything, I might just have words with them as well! Because trust me, anyone who raises their kids like that, they deserve a good harsh talking to, maybe a few swats around the derrière as well!” the unicorn continued.

Coldcast finally laughed, at the sheer mental image of Flashfire taking grown parents over his knees and spanking them. Flashfire finally smiled at this.

“Good, that’s what I like to hear. You, just laughing at something and not belittling yourself.” he said, finally releasing Coldcast from the hug. “Now, back to class with you!”

“W-What about…?” Coldcast whispered, the griffon not daring to finish.

“Directeur Stoneheart?” Flashfire finished, spitting out the name in disgust. “If he gives me trouble, he might just find out he wound up with more than he bargained for! Besides, I don’t think he wants to argue with me more than once today already so you needn’t worry.”

As he picked himself up off the ground, Coldcast let out a low snarl as his blade glowed a sharp blue. “No, that’s where you’re wrong Lupus, if you even deserve that title. You’re no Karō,” he spat. “I honestly pity those under your rulership. Because you are nothing but a tyrant, pure and simple. Karōs, you know what they are? On my planet, they were top-ranking Samurai officials, advisors to Daimyos. Oh sure, Samurai means one who serves, roughly, but you? Well, all I see is the one who oppresses. Time to fix that.” he stated simply, before letting out a battle cry as Lupus’s eyes widened and he quickly combined his swapped out his sickles for a sword. Like the sickles before it, it too glowed with a sickly purple hue marking a sharp contrast to Coldcast’s own blue blade.

Metal met metal, sparks flying off the blades as they met. Even as Coldcast went sword to sword with his opponent, he flashed back once more.

“Okay, all you need to do is just hold your blade like so. That simple,” Flashfire instructed, both him and Coldcast in a large training room, with a dark blue hexagonal floor beneath them, capable of creating holographic structures. “Come on, you can do it.”

Coldcast grunted as he saw his mentor/big brother go through some simple sword maneuvers, almost like a dance. He made it sound so simple, but when Coldcast tried any one of these maneuvers, even something as simple as a thrust all he ended up doing was send the sword flying out of his hands.

“Your grip was too loose that time, Cold. You need to hold it tighter.” Flashfire said as he came over, patted his shoulder, and pointed to his tightly grasped hands. “Just think that sword is the most important thing in your life, and never let it go. Let your hands become a clamp that nothing can escape from, and that sword will never leave them. Here, let me show you something, what I want to work you towards.”

With a battle cry, Flashfire charged towards a holographic version of Queen Chrysalis, and flipped in mid-air before letting out a cry of “Regulus Impact!” as the blade came down, the tip spitting out small little meteorites as it did so. The hologram? Didn’t even stand a chance.

“Whoa… Mierda.” Coldcast breathed out and watched as Flashfire sheathed his sword and approached him.

“Now, show me your fighting style. And remember. Tight grip on the sword. The tighter, the better,” Flashfire pointed to another projection of Chrysalis. “Use whatever means you like.”

Coldcast let out a battle cry, and charged right towards Chrysalis, his sword aimed at her like a spear. A blast of green magic from Chrysalis’s horn, and the griffon soon found himself on his ass.

“Well, that didn’t go as planned…” Coldcast muttered, taking his own stupidity with good grace. “Dios mios, that hurt.”

“Your enemy will try and fight back, so you need to be sure to be prepared for when they do retaliate.” Flashfire nodded, before running towards that very same projection, which shot more and more bolts at him. “Time every strike, and either meet it or evade it.” He said, while demonstrating. “Only then, will your enemies fall at your hooves… Er paws, in your case.” With one final vertical strike, the hologram shattered once again.

Coldcast smirked, before charging forwards once again. Chrysalis, like before fired off green energy blasts, but this time the griffon either deflected them, or absorbed them into his blade before he took a running leap off a raised section of the floor, and his blade came down.

“There you go. You’re learning now.” Flashfire patted him as he dealt Chrysalis the final blow. “But it won’t all be one-on-one fights, you know. Now, let’s go through some more maneuvers…”

Back in the present, Coldcast and Lupus continued their sword duel.

The words ringing in his head, he managed to find moments to strike Lupus’s blade as he attacked, knocking it off course or completely bouncing them back to his side. Looking for an opening, it took Cold a while before he dealt a swift blow to Lupus' chest, causing him to stumble backwards.

Lupus let out a low growl and charged his blade with an eerie purple energy. “Black Hole’s Devastation!” he roared, before sending a pure dark orb, which had formed at the tip of his sword right towards Coldcast. In the split second before the orb was fired at him, the griffon noted that a distinct sphere not unlike a Kyutama had been attached to Lupus’s blade hilt.

“Is that—“ Before he had time to finish, the black orb hit him, pulled him into a small vortex, where he was barraged with a series of invisible attacks before being spat back out before Lupus’s eyes.

“It had to have been, nothing else I’ve seen grants that sort of power,” Coldcast thought, heart pumping and adrenaline rushing through him. “No time to think on it now, I’ve got to deal with this guy now!” he continued to himself, before going in for several more strikes, all blocked.

“I’ll grant you this,” Lupus mused. “You’ve had some experience with the sword, and whoever taught you is a very good combatant, but sadly… You’re just not at my level yet. Still, if you’re so inclined, you could join Dark Matter. A Paladin, they make very formidable combatants. We treasure every soldier who joins our cause, and believe me, you’d make a fine one.” he complimented.

“Ir al Tártaro.” Coldcast spat.

“Very well then. It’s your funeral.” Lupus went back to his sickles, and twirled them before putting them in a scissor-like hold around Cold’s neck. “Any last words before I close these up?”

“Yeah. Just one. Regulus Impact!” Coldcast snapped, before a pure wave of blue energy sent the Karō flying backwards, ripping up the ground as it did so. Clutching his bleeding chest, Lupus let out a hiss.

“Wh-what?! How?!” He felt the blood trickle onto the hand around the wound before he opened a portal with his free hand. “Another time! You will not end me here, Paladin!” And he barrelled through the vortex, leaving Coldcast behind.

Meanwhile, the other Paladins were still flailing about in the Deathworm’s tendrils.

“Anyone got a plan here?” Stripped shouted.

“You’re the egghead!” Fågel snapped. “You’re supposed to be the one thinking up how to escape beasts like this!”

Unusually, or perhaps not given his personality, Flashfire seemed rather calm. He’d managed to free one of his hands and pressed down on his Cerberus Kyutama. There was a crashing sound as something massive broke through ice and crystal, and the Deathworm along with the Rangers found themselves staring down three dog’s heads.

“The Cerberus Voyager! Yes!” Jabari fist-pumped as the mech stared the Deathworm in the mouth. The massive Voyager then shot a barrage of gold energy beams from its eyes ripping apart the Deathworm’s tendrils and sending the Rangers in freefall. Jabari’s tune immediately changed.

“Oh, not good, not good!” the zorse squeaked out before he found himself -Amongst the others- in the Voyager’s hold, and he let out a sigh of relief. “...I wasn’t worried, were any of you?”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s very happy!” Fågel shouted, as the Deathworm screeched in rage and pain somewhere behind him.

“I’m picking up a heat signature following you, advise escape to avoid destruction.” the Celesti-AI commented and Flashfire sighed.

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know…” he muttered before pressing a button on his console as the Voyager did a barrel roll to avoid a blast of sickly green energy sent from the Deathworm’s center eye. Flashfire’s fingers were a blur on the central console’s keypad, keys lighting up as he inputted commands. “Bring me up a map of the tunnels Celestia. Show me the best route out of here, and away from that… thing. Coldcast, please tell me you’re alright!”

“I-I’m fine, s-sent that wolf running. Where are you?” the griffon replied, sounding rather out of breath.

“Oh, the usual. Outflying something massive and defying death. A vol de la mort if you will.” he commented lightly, before turning his attentions back to the Celesti-AI and letting out a small growl of frustration. “Celestia, need that map…” he muttered. “Any time now would be good.”

“Okay. There’s a safe way out through a series of ice-tunnels nearby, but that monster’s probably going to chase you down if you take it. Basically, I hope you’ve got the afterburners on, because it could trigger a catastrophic cave-in if you’re not quick enough.” Celesti-AI pulled up a map of the path ahead, along with the cave network and which route they needed to take. “Happy flying, team.”

“W-What!?!” Jabari sputtered out, his voice coming out once again as a squeak.

“Real encouraging there…” Flashfire muttered to himself in a low tone. “Well, if we’re going to do this, might as well make it magnifique, eh?”

“Yeah, real great time to channel your ancestor, this!” Jabari snapped. Flashfire ignored him, and muted the comms. Needed no distractions, he just needed to fly.

The deathworm screeched loudly and tunnelled after the fleeing Rangers, tearing through the ground like paper, submerging and leaping out of the ground itself, leaving nothing but holes in its’ wake, it was like a massive, screwed-up, monster dolphin that had escaped from the zoo; and it was hunting down the Paladins.

“It’s just like a sink, just like a sink…” Flashfire murmured to himself. “Think of it as a grease trap, think of these tunnels like that.”

“500 feet, 400 feet, 300 feet…” the Celesti-AI informed.

The Cerberus Voyager was mere inches away from the beast, as shrapnel of ice rammed against it and the surrounding walls. The ground itself was coated in a thick veil of ice and mist as the beast continued to burrow and leap, again and again, until they finally managed to make it into the caves.

From there, the Deathworm stopped jumping, and instead wormed its’ way through the extensive caverns and floes, screeches echoing out as it readied for its’ next strikes. It finally burst out of the walls, charging straight into the ship and smashing it against walls. It ricketed and wobbled as the team tried to stabilize, but Deathworm itself disappeared into the cave network again.

“Thank Faust, think we lost it…” Flashfire sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow, before turning on the comms once again. “We’re home free, te-”

His words were swiftly cut off when the Deathworm erupted from the ground, spraying the Voyager’s exterior with even more shards of ice.

“Merde…” Flashfire muttered. “Okay, so it’s a battle you want eh? I can do that.” he sighed, before taking his Kyutama out and putting it on a central pad on the console.

“Shooting Star Megazord transformation sequence primed,” the Celesti-AI informed, as the other Rangers leapt out of the hold and summoned their own Voyagers. “Combination sequence ready.”

“Let’s rocket!” Flashfire smirked as he saw the Wolf and Bull Voyagers running below him, before the back halves tilted upwards with the Cerberus Voyager linking up with them complete with small hisses of steam. The Swordfish Voyager connected to the Megazord’s right arm port, and the Eagle Voyager, the left. The Chameleon Voyager replaced one of the heads of the Cerberus, the left one specifically, forming some sort of massive shoulder cannon. Finally, the central head on the Cerberus had its jaw fold down, revealing a mouthplate covered face, with two stoic yellow eyes staring the Deathworm down.

“Shooting Star Megazord online.” the Celesti-AI informed as the combination completed itself and all six Rangers joined each other in the main cockpit.

“Let’s see what you got, eh big guy?” Fågel asked, cracking her knuckles as the Megazord took one massive step forwards, sending shards of ice flying into the air.

The deathworm let out another ear-piercing howl as it dove back into the icy network of tunnels, which caused the whole place to rumble and shake from top to bottom.

“Tracking,” Stripped Gear informed as his screen showed a little reticle tracking the worm’s movements. “Locked on target.”

As soon as the deathworm emerged, it was greeted by a green tongue made of energy lashing at it like a whip. The coil wrapped around its’ body and began to glow brighter, as steam shot off of where the energy rope wrapped around it. The Deathworm was pumped full of amp after amp of electricity, and it screeched out in pain.

Eventually however, it broke free and fired a beam of green energy from its sole eye sending the Megazord staggering backward.

“So, like to play rough huh?” Jabari asked. “Let’s see how you like a taste of this. Should warm you up real quick!” he smirked, as the Eagle Voyager’s wings slashed at the deathworm like some sort of giant metal fan before they ignited and dealt out a devastating blow.

The deathworm crashed into the cave, and that was the kicker. Stalactites tumbled from the ceiling, and the very entrance they came through began to collapse along with the rest of the caverns. It was a cave-in, and one that would swallow everything whole if they didn’t move now.

Sadly, the deathworm had no intention of letting them go quietly. It reasoned, if it was going to die, those little fleshlings inside their giant armor suit would go with it. Firing another blast of green energy from its central eye, more damage was dealt as it pushed them towards the avalanche of snow and ice.

“Systems red-lining!” Jabari warned. “We need to finish this, and finish it fast!”

“Got just the thing!” Flashfire smirked as he pressed another button on his console, with the others following suite. The Megazord lined the Swordfish Zord up with the Eagle Zord like it was holding a bow and arrow, and fired a piercing beam of light right through the deathworm’s heart, leaving a massive gaping wound.

“Rangers! Get out of there fast!” the Celest-AI called as the fight ended and the deathworm let out one final screech. “Unless you move, you’ll never leave these caves alive!”

Firing the jets on the Megazord’s back, it rocketed out of the tunnels and to the deep black of the sky above, which had never looked quite so welcoming...

Author's Notes:

Okay, so first off, huge thanks to Shadowmane for co-writing the fight scenes in this chapter, of which I admit there were a lot of but what's wrong with that? Besides, I left quite a bit of space in for Coldcast's character development, or at least backstory.

And no, before anyone asks, I will not be naming every other chapter after a constellation. Just only when it suits me.

As ever, comments, thoughts, and critiques are welcomed.